Hunter College is a

public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universit ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It is one of the constituent colleges of the

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...

and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also administers

Hunter College High School Hunter College High School is a secondary school located in the Carnegie Hill neighborhood on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It is administered by Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY). Hunter is publicly funded, and there i ...

and

Hunter College Elementary School Hunter College Elementary School is a New York City elementary school for select students who reside in New York City, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Administered by Hunter College, a senior college of the City University of New York or C ...

. Hunter was founded in 1870 as a women's college; it first admitted male freshmen in 1946. The main campus has been located on

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenu ...

since 1873. In 1943,

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

dedicated

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

's and her former townhouse to the college; the building was reopened in 2010 as the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College. The institution has an 57% undergraduate graduation rate within six years.

History

Founding

Hunter College has its origins in the 19th-century movement for normal school training which swept across the United States. Hunter descends from the Female Normal and High School (later renamed the Normal College of the City of New York), established in New York City in 1870. It was founded by Thomas Hunter, an exile from Ireland because of his

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

beliefs. Hunter was president of the school during the first 37 years. It was originally a

women's college Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male stud ...

for training teachers. The school, which was housed in an armory and saddle store at Broadway and East Fourth Street in Manhattan, was open to all qualified women, irrespective of race, religion or ethnic background. At the time most women's colleges had racial or ethno-religious admissions criteria. Created by the New York State Legislature, Hunter was deemed the only approved institution for those seeking to teach in New York City. The school incorporated an elementary and high school for gifted children, where students practiced teaching. In 1887, a

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

was established as well. (Today, the

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

and the

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

still exist at a different location, and are now called the Hunter College Campus Schools.) During Thomas Hunter's tenure as president of the school, Hunter became known for its impartiality regarding race, religion, ethnicity, financial or political favoritism; its pursuit of higher education for women; its high entry requirements; and its rigorous academics. The first female professor at the school,

Helen Gray Cone Helen Gray Cone (March 8, 1859 – January 31, 1934) was a poet and professor of English literature. She spent her entire career at Hunter College in New York City. Early life and education Cone was born in New York and attended the Normal Colle ...

, was elected to the position in 1899. The college's student population quickly expanded, and the college subsequently moved uptown, in 1873, into a new red brick

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

structure facing Park Avenue between 68th and 69th Streets.Christopher Gray
"Streetscapes/Hunter College on 68th Street and Park Avenue; Industrial-Style Main Building Raised Storm in 1940"
''The New York Times'', February 29, 2004 It was one of several public institutions built at the time on a

Lenox Hill Lenox Hill () is a neighborhood on Manhattan's Upper East Side. It forms the lower section of the Upper East Side—east of Park Avenue in the 60s and 70s. A significant portion of the neighborhood lies within the Upper East Side Historic Dist ...

lot that had been set aside by the city for a park, before the creation of

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

. In 1888 the school was incorporated as a college under the statutes of New York State, with the power to confer the degree of

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

This led to the separation of the school into two "camps": the "Normals", who pursued a four-year course of study to become licensed teachers, and the "Academics", who sought non-teaching professions and the Bachelor of Arts degree. After 1902 when the "Normal" course of study was abolished, the "Academic" course became standard across the student body.

Expansion

In 1913 the east end of the building, housing the elementary school, was replaced by Thomas Hunter Hall, a new limestone Tudor building facing

Lexington Avenue Lexington Avenue, often colloquially abbreviated as "Lex", is an avenue on the East Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City that carries southbound one-way traffic from East 131st Street to Gramercy Park at East 21st Street. Along it ...

and designed by

C. B. J. Snyder Charles B. J. Snyder (November 4, 1860 – November 14, 1945) was an American architect, architectural engineer, and mechanical engineer in the field of urban school building design and construction. He is widely recognized for his leadership, i ...

. The following year the Normal College became Hunter College in honor of its first president. At the same time, the college was experiencing a period of great expansion as increasing student enrollments necessitated more space. The college reacted by establishing branches in the boroughs of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, and

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

. By 1920, Hunter College had the largest enrollment of women of any municipally financed college in the United States. In 1930, Hunter's Brooklyn campus merged with City College's Brooklyn campus, and the two were spun off to form

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

Hunter College NY WAVES camp opening 1943

In 1936 fire destroyed the 1873 Gothic building facing Park Avenue, and by 1940 the

Public Works Administration The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Recove ...

replaced it with the

Modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

north building, designed by

Shreve, Lamb & Harmon Shreve, Lamb, and Harmon, founded as Shreve & Lamb, was an architectural firm, best known for designing the Empire State Building, the tallest building in the world at the time of its completion in 1931. History The firm was founded in 1920 as Sh ...

along with Harrison & Fouilhoux. The late 1930s saw the construction of Hunter College in the Bronx (later known as the Bronx Campus). During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Hunter leased the Bronx Campus buildings to the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

who used the facilities to train 95,000 women volunteers for military service as

WAVES Waves most often refers to: *Waves, oscillations accompanied by a transfer of energy that travel through space or mass. * Wind waves, surface waves that occur on the free surface of bodies of water. Waves may also refer to: Music * Waves (ban ...

and

SPARS The United States Coast Guard (USCG) Women's Reserve, also known as the SPARS (SPARS was the acronym for "Semper Paratus—Always Ready"), was the women's branch of the United States Coast Guard Reserve. It was established by the United States ...

. When the Navy vacated the campus, the site was briefly occupied by the nascent United Nations, which held its first Security Council sessions at the Bronx Campus in 1946, giving the school an international profile. In 1943,

dedicated a town house at 47–49 East 65th Street in Manhattan to the college. The house had been a home for the future

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

and First Lady. Today it is known as The Roosevelt House of Public Policy and opened in fall 2010 as an academic center hosting prominent speakers.

CUNY era

Hunter became the

of the municipal system, and in the 1950s, when City College became coeducational, Hunter started admitting men to its

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

campus. In 1964, the

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

campus began admitting men also. The Bronx campus subsequently became

Lehman College Lehman College is a public college in the Bronx borough of New York City. Founded in 1931 as the Bronx campus of Hunter College, the school became an independent college within CUNY in September 1967. The college is named after Herbert H. Lehma ...

in 1968. In 1968–1969, Black and Puerto Rican students struggled to get a department that would teach about their history and experience. These and supportive students and faculty expressed this demand through building take-overs, rallies, etc. In Spring 1969, Hunter College established Black and Puerto Rican Studies (now called Africana/Puerto Rican and Latino Studies). An "

open admissions Open admissions, or open enrollment, is a type of unselective and noncompetitive college admissions process in the United States in which the only criterion for entrance is a high school diploma or a certificate of attendance or General Education ...

" policy initiated in 1970 by the City University of New York opened the school's doors to historically underrepresented groups by guaranteeing a college education to any and all who graduated from NYC high schools. Many African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, Puerto Ricans, and students from the developing world made their presence felt at Hunter, and even after the end of "open admissions" still comprise a large part of the school's student body. As a result of this increase in enrollment, Hunter opened new buildings on Lexington Avenue during the early 1980s. In further advancing Puerto Rican studies, Hunter became home to the

Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños El Centro, the Center for Puerto Rican Studies or Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños, is a university-based research institute whose mission is to produce, facilitate, and disseminate interdisciplinary research about the experiences of Puerto Ri ...

("Center for Puerto Rican Studies" or simply "Centro") in 1982. Today, Hunter College is a comprehensive teaching and research institution. Of the more than 20,000 students enrolled at Hunter, nearly 5,000 are enrolled in a graduate program, the most popular of which are education and social work. Although less than 28% of students are the first in their families to attend college, the institution maintains its tradition of concern for women's education, with nearly three out of four students being female. In 2006, Hunter became home to the

Bella Abzug Bella Savitzky Abzug (July 24, 1920 – March 31, 1998), nicknamed "Battling Bella", was an American lawyer, politician, social activist, and a leader in the women's movement. In 1971, Abzug joined other leading feminists such as Gloria Steinem, ...

Leadership Institute, which has training programs for young women to build their leadership, public speaking, business and advocacy skills. In recent years, the institution has integrated its undergraduate and graduate programs to successfully make advanced programs in fields such as (

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

and

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

) – "PhD Program", (Education) – "Master's Program", (Mathematics) – "Master's Program", -"PhD Program" (

Chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

) – "

Biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

", (Accounting) – "Master's Program" along with the highly competitive (Economics) – "Master's Program" to which only a select few students may enter based on excellent scholarship and performance, and less than half will earn a master's degree by maintaining a nearly perfect academic record and performing thesis research. Although far from the polar regions, Hunter is a member institution of the

University of the Arctic The University of the Arctic (UArctic) is an international cooperative network based in the Circumpolar Arctic region, consisting of universities, colleges, and other organizations with an interest in promoting education and research in the Arcti ...

, a network of schools providing education accessible to northern students.

Campuses

Main campus

Hunter College is anchored by its main campus at East 68th Street and Lexington Avenue, a modern complex of three towers – the East, West, and North Buildings – and Thomas Hunter Hall, all interconnected by skywalks. The institution's official street address is 695

, New York, NY 10065. (Formerly bearing the ZIP code of 10021, the code changed on July 1, 2007, in accordance with the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

's plan to split the 10021 ZIP code.) The address is based on the North Building, which stretches from 68th to 69th Streets along Park Avenue. The main campus is situated two blocks east of

, near many of New York's most prestigious cultural institutions including the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, the

Asia Society The Asia Society is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States (Manhattan, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco) and around the world (Hong Kong, Man ...

Museum, and the

Frick Collection The Frick Collection is an art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection (normally at the Henry Clay Frick House, currently at the 945 Madison Avenue#2021–present: Frick Madison, Frick Madison) features Old Master paintings and Europe ...

. The

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...

's 68th Street–Hunter College station () on the

IRT Lexington Avenue Line The IRT Lexington Avenue Line (also known as the IRT East Side Line and the IRT Lexington–Fourth Avenue Line) is one of the lines of the A Division of the New York City Subway, stretching from Lower Manhattan north to 125th Street in East H ...

is directly underneath, and serves the entire campus. Adjacent to the staircase to the station, in front of the West Building, sat an iconic Hunter sculpture, "Tau", created by late Hunter professor and respected artist Tony Smith. The sculpture has been removed as of October 2018 due to restoration purposes. The main campus is home to the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Education. It features numerous facilities that serve not only Hunter, but the surrounding community, and is well known as a center for the arts. The Assembly Hall, which seats more than 2,000, is a major performance site; the Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse, a 675-seat

proscenium theatre A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...

, has over 100,000 visitors annually and hosts over 200 performances each season; the Ida K. Lang Recital Hall is a fully equipped concert space with 148 seats; the Frederick Loewe Theatre, a 50 x black box performance space is the site of most department performances; and the Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Art Gallery hosts professionally organized art exhibits. Students have access to specialized learning facilities at the main campus, including the Dolciani Mathematics Learning Center, the Leona and Marcy Chanin Language Center, and the Physical Sciences Learning Center. Hunter has numerous research laboratories in the natural and

biomedical Biomedicine (also referred to as Western medicine, mainstream medicine or conventional medicine)

sciences. These labs accommodate post-docs, PhD students from the CUNY Graduate School, and undergraduate researchers. College sports and recreational programs are served by the Hunter Sportsplex, located below the West Building.

Satellite campuses

Hunter has two satellite campuses: The Silberman School of Social Work Building, located on third Avenue between East 118th and East 119th Streets, which houses the School of Social Work, the School of Urban Public Health, and the Brookdale Center on Aging; and the Brookdale Campus, located at East 25th Street and first Avenue, which houses the Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing, the Schools of the Health Professions, the Health Professions Library and several research centers and computer labs. The Brookdale Campus is the site of the Hunter dormitory, which is home to over 600 undergraduate and graduate students, as well as a limited number of nurses employed at Bellevue Hospital. Prior to the opening of City College's new "Towers," the Brookdale complex was the City University's only dormitory facility.

Other facilities

The institution owns and operates property outside of its main campuses, including the MFA Building at 205 Hudson, Roosevelt House, Baker Theatre Building, Silberman School of Social Work, and the Hunter College Campus Schools. The MFA Studio Art program was formerly run out of a building on West 41st Street between 9th and 10th Avenues. It was a industrial space that students converted to studio space for the college's BFA and MFA program. The current building in Tribeca now houses the Studio Art and Integrated Media Arts MFA program, and Art History MA program. Roosevelt House, located on East 65th Street, is the historic family home of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Hunter's Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute is now located there, honoring the public policy commitments of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Baker Theatre Building located on 149 East 67th Street, New York, NY 10065 is the home of Hunter's Department of Theatre thanks to the extraordinary generosity of Hunter trustee Patty Baker ’82 and her husband, Jay. The Silberman School of Social Work is located between 118th and 119th street on 3rd Ave. The Hunter Campus Schools—

and

—are publicly funded schools for the intellectually gifted. Located at East 94th Street, the Campus Schools are among the nation's oldest and largest elementary and secondary schools of their kind.

Libraries

The Leon & Toby Cooperman Library entrance is located on the third-floor walkway level of the East Building. The Cooperman Library has individual and group study rooms, special facilities for students with disabilities, networked computer classrooms and labs for word processing and internet access. The Social Work & Urban Public Health Library, located on the main floor of the Silberman Building, (SWUPHL) serves the academic and research needs of the Silberman School of Social Work as well as Hunter’s Urban Public Health, Community Health Education, and Nutrition programs. The onsite, physical collection includes 55,000 books and journals as well as audio-visual materials. Silberman patrons have remote access to the Hunter Libraries electronic collections which include 250,000 full-text eBooks, 100,000 eJournals, and over 300 electronic databases. SWUPHL is a pick-up/drop-off site for the CUNY intra-library loan system (CLICS) that facilitates the sharing of books between all the CUNY libraries. In addition, SWUPHL participates in the national interlibrary loan program for academic libraries. These reciprocal agreements allow the patrons of SWUPHL extensive access to a multitude of collections. The SWUPHL Faculty provide drop-in and by-appointment reference services, research consultations, classroom and individual instruction. The library has 6 group study rooms, group and silent study areas, desktop computers, a laptop computer loan program, photocopiers, printing stations, and a book scanner. The Judith and Stanley Zabar Art Library, dedicated in December 2008, was made possible through the support of Judith Zabar, a member of the Hunter College Class of 1954, and her husband Stanley Zabar.

Academics

Hunter is organized into four schools: The School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Education, the School of the Health Professions, and the School of Social Work. The institution is highly selective, with an undergraduate admissions acceptance rate of 36% in Fall 2018. Hunter offers 70 programs leading to a BA or BS degree; 10 BA-MA joint degree programs; and 75 graduate programs. Students at Hunter may study within the fields of fine arts, the humanities, the language arts, the sciences, the social sciences, and the applied arts and sciences, as well as in professional areas in accounting, education, health sciences, and nursing. Regardless of area of concentration, all undergraduate Hunter students are encouraged to have broad exposure to the liberal arts; Hunter was one of the first colleges in the nation to pass a 12-credit curriculum requirement for pluralism and diversity courses. As of 2007, Hunter had 673 full-time and 886 part-time faculty members, and 20,844 students—15,718 undergraduates and 5,126 graduates. Over 50% of Hunter's students belong to ethnic minority groups. The class of 2011 represented 60 countries and speaks 59 different languages. Seventy-one percent of these students were born outside the United States or have at least one foreign-born parent. SAT and high school GPA scores for the entering Fall 2012 class of freshmen had an SAT score 25th–75th percentile range of 1090 to 1280 and high school GPA 25th–75th percentile range of 85% to 92%.

Rankings

Hunter College rankings are as follows: National ARWU: 187–200 ''Forbes'': 129 ''THE''/''WSJ'': 256 QS: 151–160 CWUR: 218 Regional ''U.S. News & World Report'': 18 ''Washington Monthly'': 37 Graduate Program in Fine Arts In the most recent edition of '' U.S. News & World Report'' Ranking of Graduate Fine Arts Programs, Hunter has been ranked 23rd best in the United States. Hunter's MFA Programs in Studio Art (Painting and Sculpture) and Studio Art (Painting and Drawing) have both been ranked ninth best in the nation. In 2017,

Artsy Artsy, formally known as Art.sy Inc is a New York City based online art brokerage. Its main business is developing and hosting website for numerous galleries as well as selling art for them. It utilizes a search engine and database to draw conn ...

included Hunter's in the list of "Top 15 Art Schools in the United States." The admission to Hunter's MFA Programs in Studio Art is highly competitive, with the average acceptance rate of 8% as of 2018.

Honors programs

Hunter offers several honors programs, including the Macaulay Honors College and the Thomas Hunter Honors Program. The

Macaulay Honors College William E. Macaulay Honors College, commonly referred to as Macaulay Honors College or Macaulay, is a highly selective honors college for students at the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. The college awards full-tuition ...

, a CUNY-wide honors program, supports the undergraduate education of academically gifted students. University Scholars benefit from a full tuition scholarship (up to the value of in-state tuition only as of Fall 2013, effectively restricting it to NY state residents), personalized advising, early registration, access to internships, and study abroad opportunities. All scholars at Hunter are given the choice of either a free dormitory room at the Brookdale Campus for two years or a yearly stipend. The Thomas Hunter Honors Program offers topical interdisciplinary seminars and academic concentrations designed to meet students’ individual interests. The program is open to outstanding students pursuing a BA and is orchestrated under the supervision of an Honors Council. It can be combined with, or replace, a formal departmental major/minor. Hunter offers other honors programs, including Honors Research Training Programs and Departmental Honors opportunities, The Freshmen Honors Scholar Programs inclusive of the Athena Scholar program, Daedalus Scholar program, Muse Scholar program, Nursing Scholar program, Roosevelt Scholar program, and the Yalow Scholar program. In addition to these honors programs, several honors societies are based at Hunter, including

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

(PBK). A small percentage of Hunter students are invited to join Hunter's Nu chapter of PBK, which has existed at the college since 1920.

Student life

Student governance

The Hunter College student body is governed by the Undergraduate Student Government and the Graduate Student Association (GSA),.

Clubs

Hunter offers approximately 150 clubs. These organizations range from the academic to the athletic, and from the religious/spiritual to the visual and performing arts. There are clubs based on specific interests, such as "Russian Club", which offers a look at Russian life and culture and "InterVarsity Christian Fellowship" an organization whose vision is to "transform students and faculty, renew the campus, and develop world changers."

Fraternities and sororities

National – Social *

Alpha Epsilon Pi Alpha Epsilon Pi (), commonly known as AEPi, is a college fraternity founded at New York University in 1913 by Charles C. Moskowitz and ten other men. The fraternity has more than 150 active chapters across the United States, Canada, United Kingdo ...

(ΑΕΠ) – international social fraternity *

Kappa Sigma Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international fraternities with currently 318 active chapters and colo ...

(ΚΣ) – international social fraternity *

Delta Sigma Theta Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emphasis on programs that assist the African American community. Delta ...

(ΔΣΘ) – international social sorority *

Phi Sigma Sigma Phi Sigma Sigma (), colloquially known as Phi Sig, was the first collegiate nonsectarian sorority to allow membership of women of all faiths and backgrounds. The sorority was founded on November 26, 1913, and lists 60,000 initiated members, 115 ...

(ΦΣΣ) – international social sorority National – Service *

Alpha Phi Omega Alpha Phi Omega (), commonly known as APO, but also A-Phi-O and A-Phi-Q, is a coeducational service fraternity. It is the largest collegiate fraternity in the United States, with chapters at over 350 campuses, an active membership of over 25,0 ...

(ΑΦΩ) – national co-educational service fraternity Local – Social *Alpha Sigma (ΑΣ) – local social sorority *Nu Phi Delta (ΝΦΔ) – local multicultural social fraternity Local – Service *Theta Phi Gamma (ΘΦΓ) – local cultural and philanthropic sorority *Epsilon Sigma Phi (ΕΣΦ) – local multicultural service sorority *Zeta Phi Alpha (ΖΦΑ) – local service sorority Non-Greek *Gamma Ce Upsilon (ΓCΥ) – non-Greek Latina sorority

Student media

Hunter College has a campus radio station, WHCS, which once broadcast at 590AM but is now solely online. ''The Envoy'' is the main campus newspaper, published bi-weekly during the academic year. Its literary and art magazine ''The Olivetree Review'' offers opportunities for publishing student prose, poetry, drama, and art. Other publications include ''Culture Magazine'' (fashion and lifestyle), ''Hunted Hero Comics'' (comics and graphic stories), ''The Photographer's Collective'' (photography), ''Nursing Student Press'' (medical news and articles), Spoon University (culinary online publication), ''Psych News'' (psychology), ''The Wistarion'' (yearbook), ''SABOR'' (Spanish language and photography/now defunct), ''Revista De La Academia'' (Spanish language/now defunct), the ''Islamic Times'' (now defunct), ''Political Paradigm'' (political science/now defunct), ''Hakol'' (Jewish interest/now defunct), and ''Spoof'' (humor/now defunct). Past publications also include ''The WORD'' (news) and ''Hunter Anonymous''.

Athletics

Hunter is a member of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) and competes at the

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

level. The mascot is the Hawks. Hunter plays in the

City University of New York Athletic Conference The City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNY Athletic Conference or CUNYAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Its member institutions are all located in New York City and are campuses o ...

. The basketball, volleyball and wrestling teams play at the

Hunter Sportsplex The Hunter Sportsplex is a multi-purpose sports facility located in Manhattan, New York, within the campus of Hunter College of the City University of New York. It is the home of the Hunter College Hawks. Basketball, volleyball and wrestling ...

Manhattan/Hunter College Science High School

As a partnership with the

New York City Department of Education The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) is the department of the government of New York City that manages the city's public school system. The City School District of the City of New York (or the New York City Public Schools) is t ...

, the Manhattan/Hunter College High School for Sciences was opened in 2003 on the campus of the former Martin Luther King, Jr. High School on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

. Unlike Hunter's campus schools, Hunter Science does not require an entrance exam for admission.

Notable alumni

Arts

This list covers alumni in visual, musical, and performing arts. *

Martina Arroyo Martina Arroyo (born February 2, 1937) is an American operatic soprano who had a major international opera career from the 1960s through the 1980s. She was part of the first generation of black opera singers to achieve wide success. Arroyo first ...

– opera singer * Barbara Adrian – artist *

Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was a five-time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director and is considered an enduring figure from the New H ...

– photographer *

Firelei Báez Firelei Báez (born 1981) is a Dominican artist based in New York City known for intricate works on paper and canvas, as well as large scale sculpture. Her art explores the Western canon through the elements of non-Western reading. Báez's wo ...

- visual artist *

Jules de Balincourt Jules de Balincourt (born 1972) is a French-born American contemporary artist, based in Brooklyn, New York. He is best known for his abstract, atmospheric paintings, with saturated colors, blurring the line between fantasy and reality. Biogra ...

– artist (painter) *

Crackhead Barney Crackhead Barney is an American Performance art, performance artist and Ambush interview, ambush interviewer. She shares video of Satire, satirical interviews on social media as a viral interview show titled ''Crackhead Barney and Friends''. E ...

– performance artist * Robert Barry (born 1936) –

conceptual art Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...

ist. * Katherine Behar – artist (performance) * Aisha Tandiwe Bell – artist (mixed media) * Daniel Bozhkov – artist (painter, performance) * Vivian E. Browne – artist (painter) *

Roy DeCarava Roy Rudolph DeCarava (December 9, 1919 – October 27, 2009) was an American artist. DeCarava received early critical acclaim for his photography, initially engaging and imaging the lives of African Americans and jazz musicians in the communi ...

– artist (photographer) * Jacqueline Donachie –

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...

ist *

Cheryl Donegan Cheryl Donegan (born 1962) is an American conceptual artist.

–

ist * Echo Eggebrecht –

ist * Arthur Elgort — fashion photographer *

Gabriele Evertz Gabriele Evertz (born 1945 in Berlin) is an American painter, curator and professor who is applying the history and theory of color in her work. She is known for abstract color painting and Geometric abstraction. Life and work Gabriele Evertz ...

–

ist (painter) *

Omer Fast Omer Fast (born in Jerusalem 1972) is an Israeli video artist. Early life and education Born and raised in Israel, Fast spent much of his teenage years in Jericho, New York while his father pursued a medical degree in both countries. He received ...

– artist (video, film) * Denise Green – artist (painter) *

Wade Guyton Wade Guyton (born 1972) is an American post-conceptual artist who among other things makes digital paintings on canvas using scanners and digital inkjet technology. Early life and education Guyton was born in Hammond, Indiana, in 1972, and grew ...

– artist (painter) *

Minna Harkavy Minna Harkavy (November 13, 1887 – 1987) (birth occasionally listed as 1895) was an American sculptor. She was born in Estonia to Yoel and Hannah Rothenberg and immigrated to the United States around 1900. She studied at the Art Students Lea ...

– sculptor * Kim Hoeckele – artist * Louise E. Jefferson – artist, graphic designer * Jessica Kairé – installation artist *

Mel Kendrick Mel Kendrick (born July 28, 1949), is an Contemporary art, American artist, known primarily for his sculpture, sculptural work in wood, bronze, rubber, paper and, most recently, cast concrete. Kendrick's work reflects a deep fascination with proce ...

– artist (sculptor, printmaking) *

Kathleen Kucka Kathleen Kucka is an American visual artist whose practice includes Abstract art, abstract paintings, works on paper and prints.Mendelsohn, Meredith. "Kathleen Kucka Burns and Pours," ''ARTnews'', December 2004. Retrieved October 11, 2022.Johnso ...

– artist (painter) * Katerina Lanfranco – artist (painter, sculptor) *

Terrance Lindall Terrance Lindall (born 1944) is an American artist and the co-director and chief administrator of the Williamsburg Art and Historical Center in Brooklyn, New York. Lindall's illustrations have been published in '' Heavy Metal'', ''Creepy'', ''Ee ...

– artist (surrealist) *

Nick Mangano Nick Mangano is an American stage actor and director. He is the chair and artistic director of the Department of Theatre Arts at Stony Brook University. Education Mangano studied in New York, attending Hunter College, where he achieved a BA in h ...

- stage actor and director *

John Mateer John Mateer (born 1971) is a South African-born Australian poet and author. Early life and education He was born in Roodepoort, South Africa in 1971, and grew up on the outskirts of Johannesburg. He spent some of his childhood in Canada, before ...

- recording artist and filmmaker *

Monica McKelvey Johnson Monica McKelvey Johnson, born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is an artist, curator, and activist living in Brooklyn, New York. Education McKelvey Johnson has received degrees from San Francisco State University (BA, 2001), and CUNY Hunter Colleg ...

– artist (comics) and curator *

Awoiska van der Molen Awoiska van der Molen (born 1972) is a Dutch photographer, living in Amsterdam. She has produced three books of black and white landscape photographs, made in remote places. Van der Molen has been shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography ...

– photographer * Robert Morris – artist (sculptor) *

Bess Myerson Bess Myerson (July 16, 1924 – December 14, 2014) was an American politician, model and television actress who in 1945 became the first Miss America who was also Jewish. Her achievement, in the aftermath of the Holocaust, was seen as an af ...

(1924-2014)- Miss America 1945 *

Doug Ohlson Douglas Dean Ohlson (November 18, 1936 – June 29, 2010) was an American abstract artist who specialized in geometric patterns. Ohlson was born on November 18, 1936, in Cherokee, Iowa and attended Bethel College before serving in the United ...

(1936–2010) – abstract artist. * Roselle Osk — artist * Paul Pfeiffer – artist (video) *

William Powhida William Powhida (born 1976) is an American visual artist and former art critic. Powhida's work is critical and addresses the contemporary art world. Education Powhida received his Master of Fine Arts in painting from Hunter College in January, 20 ...

– artist (painter) *

Henning Rübsam Henning Rübsam is a choreographer and dancer based in New York City. He is the artistic director of SENSEDANCE, a faculty member of The Juilliard School and Fordham University, and a visiting guest professor at Texas Academy of Ballet (Caroly ...

– choreographer and dancer * Abbey Ryan – artist (painter) *

Lenny Schultz Lenny Schultz (born December 13, 1933) is an American retired comedian who performed during the 1970s on television and at comedy clubs in New York City. His madcap style of improvisational comedy influenced other comedians such as Gallagher, C ...

– comedian, gym teacher * Sally Sheinman – artist *

Liz Story Liz Story (born October 28, 1956) is an American pianist. She was born in San Diego, California, United States, and played classical music as a child. She studied at Juilliard School and was a student at Hunter College when she saw jazz pianist B ...

– artist (pianist) * Robin Tewes – artist (painter) * Cora Kelley Ward – artist (painter) *

Nari Ward Nari Ward (born 1963 in St. Andrew, Jamaica) is an American artist based in New York City. His work is often composed of found objects from his neighborhood, and "address issues related to consumer culture, poverty, and race". He is a distingui ...

– artist (sculptor) *

Beatrice Witkin Beatrice Braverman Witkin (May 13, 1916 – February 7, 1990) was an American composer and pianist who was best known for her electronic music, especially the theme she composed for the TV show '' Wild, Wild World of Animals'' in 1973. Witkin studi ...

- composer *

Esther Zweig Esther Sommerstein Zweig (July 29, 1906August 3, 1981) was an American composer, writer, translator, and teacher. She was born in New York and studied at Hunter College, New York University, the University of Vienna, and the Jewish Theological Se ...

- composer

Business

Leon G. Cooperman Leon G. Cooperman (born April 25, 1943) is an American billionaire investor and hedge fund manager. He is the chairman and CEO of Omega Advisors, a New York-based investment advisory firm managing over $3.3 billion in assets under management ...

– chairman and CEO, Omega Advisors * Lewis Frankfort – chairman and CEO, Coach, Inc. * Jeremiah J. Sheehan – chairman and CEO, Reynolds Metals, Inc.

Entertainment and sports

Ellen Barkin Ellen Rona Barkin (born April 16, 1954) is an American actress and a producer. Her breakthrough role was in the 1982 film '' Diner'', and in the following years, she had starring roles in films such as ''Tender Mercies'' (1983), ''Eddie and the ...

– actress *

James Bethea James A. Bethea Jr. (born January 14, 1965) is an American writer, producer and occasional performer, primarily in the field of television. As the former Head of Current Programming for UPN, he is among a handful of African Americans to head a p ...

– producer/television executive *

Inna Brayer Inna Brayer (born in Moscow, Russia) is a Brooklyn-based amateur ballroom dancer competing in the International 10-Dance division. She is best known for being the 2007 Amateur USA Dance National 10-Dance Champions with her partner, Pasha Pashkov. ...

– ballroom dance champion *

Edward Burns Edward Fitzgerald Burns (born January 29, 1968) is an American actor, producer, writer, and director best known for appearing in several films including ''Saving Private Ryan'' (1998), '' 15 Minutes'' (2001), ''Life or Something Like It'' (200 ...

– actor *

Harry Connick, Jr. Joseph Harry Fowler Connick Jr. (born September 11, 1967) is an American singer, pianist, composer, actor, and television host. He has sold over 28million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top60 List of best-selling music artists i ...

– actor, singer *

Govinda Govinda (), also rendered Govind and Gobind, is an epithet of Vishnu which is also used for his avatars such as Krishna. The name appears as the 187th and the 539th name of Vishnu in '' Vishnu Sahasranama''. The name is also popularly addresse ...

– actor, producer *

Bobby Darin Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American musician and actor. He performed jazz, Pop music, pop, rock and roll, Folk music, folk, Swing music, swing, and country music. He started his car ...

– musician, singer, songwriter and actor *

Ruby Dee Ruby Dee (October 27, 1922 – June 11, 2014) was an American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, and civil rights activist. She originated the role of "Ruth Younger" in the stage and film versions of ''A Raisin in the Sun'' (19 ...

(1945) – Oscar-nominated actress and civil rights activist *

Vin Diesel Mark Sinclair (born July 18, 1967), known professionally as Vin Diesel, is an American actor. One of the world's highest-grossing actors, he is best known for playing Dominic Toretto in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. Diesel began audition ...

– American actor * Grete Dollitz (1946) – radio presenter and guitarist *

Hugh Downs Hugh Malcolm Downs (February 14, 1921July 1, 2020) was an American radio and television broadcaster, announcer and programmer; television host; news anchor; TV producer; author; game show host; talk show sidekick; and music composer. A regular t ...

– television host *

Nikolai Fraiture Nikolai Philippe Fraiture (born November 13, 1978) is an American musician best known as the bassist of the American rock band The Strokes. Since co-founding the band in 1998, he has released six studio albums with them. Among other creative pro ...

– musician and bassist for

The Strokes The Strokes are an American rock band from New York City. Formed in 1998, the band is composed of lead singer and songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikolai Fraiture, and drummer Fabrizio More ...

Wilson Jermaine Heredia Wilson Jermaine Heredia (born December 2, 1971) is an American actor best known for his portrayal of Angel Dumott Schunard in the Broadway musical ''Rent'', for which he won the Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musica ...

–

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

-winning actor *

Alice Minnie Herts Alice Minnie Herts (c. 1870 – September 28, 1933), sometimes seen as A. Minnie Hertz-Heniger, was an American theatre professional, founder and manager of the Children's Educational Theatre in New York. Mark Twain said of Herts's theatrical work, ...

– founded Children's Educational Theatre in 1903 *

Jake Hurwitz Jacob Penn Cooper Hurwitz (born August 5, 1985) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and member of the comedy duo Jake and Amir. He was hired by the comedy website CollegeHumor after becoming an intern there in 2006, and has written and app ...

– web comedian and actor *

Richard Jeni Richard John Colangelo (April 14, 1957DOB according to Jeni's Website
and Social Security Death Ind ...

– comedian * Carlos Reginald King - executive producer *

Natasha Leggero Natasha Leggero () (born March 26, 1974) is an American comedian, actress and writer. She rose to fame after appearing as the host of the MTV reality television series '' The 70s House'' in 2005, and as a regular roundtable panelist on Chelsea Ha ...

– actress/comedian * Leigh Lezark – member of DJ trio the Misshapes *

Quinn Marston Quinn C. Marston (born May 31, 1988) is an American musician and artist. His music has been featured on TV shows such as '' One Tree Hill'', ''Ghost Whisperer'', and ''The Gates''. He has performed regularly at various New York City clubs includi ...

– singer-songwriter of

indie folk Indie folk is a music genre that arose in the 1990s among musicians from indie rock scenes influenced by folk music. Indie folk hybridizes the acoustic guitar melodies of traditional folk music with contemporary instrumentation. The genre has its ...

Janet MacLachlan Janet Angel MacLachlan (August 27, 1933 – October 11, 2010) was an American actress who had roles in such television series as ''The Rockford Files'', ''Alias (TV series), Alias'' and ''The Golden Girls''. She is best remembered for her key s ...

(1955) – actress *

Deepti Naval Deepti Naval (born 3 February 1952) is an Indian-born American actress, director, and writer, predominantly active in Hindi cinema. Her major contribution has been in the area of art cinema, winning critical acclaim for her sensitive and 'clos ...

– actress, filmmaker, writer and photographer *

Julianne Nicholson Julianne Nicholson (born July 1, 1971) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the films '' August: Osage County'' (2013) and ''Blonde'' (2022), as well as the television series ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' (2006–2009), ...

– actress on ''

Law & Order: Criminal Intent ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' is an American police procedural Drama (film and television), drama television series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and Executive producer#Motion pictures and television, p ...

'' (did not graduate) *

Rhea Perlman Rhea Jo Perlman (born March 31, 1948) is an American actress. She played head-waitress Carla Tortelli in the sitcom ''Cheers'' (1982–1993). Over the course of 11 seasons, Perlman was nominated for ten Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Act ...

– actress *

Dascha Polanco Dascha Yolaine Polanco (born December 3, 1982) is a Dominican-American actress. She is known for portraying the role of Dayanara "Daya" Diaz on the Netflix series ''Orange Is the New Black'', and for the role of Cuca in the 2021 movie ''In the He ...

– actress *

The Kid Mero ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

– former co-host of

Viceland Viceland (stylized in all caps), and Vice TV in the United States, are brands used for television channels owned and programmed by Vice Media. Viceland launched on February 29, 2016, with two branded cable channels; the American version (rebra ...

's '' Desus & Mero'' and former co-host of

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

's '' Desus & Mero''; AKA SKKRRRRT Loder, Ben Barson, Light-An-L Dutchie, Barmelo Xanthony, and the Plantain Supernova in the Sky *

Daniel Ravner Daniel Ravner ( Hebrew name: , born April 1, 1976) is an Israeli writer, speaker, and cross media creator. He is known for his work on Israeli television and blogging on crossmedia and internet trends. In March 2017, Ravner launched his startup n ...

– writer, speaker, cross media creator *

Judy Reyes Judy Reyes (born November 5, 1967) is an American actress, model and producer, best known for her roles as Carla Espinosa on the NBC/ABC medical comedy series '' Scrubs'' (2001–2009), and as Zoila Diaz in the Lifetime comedy-drama ''Devious M ...

– actress * DJ Ricardo! – DJ/producer *

Margherita Roberti Margherita Roberti (1925 – January 23, 2021Esther Rolle Esther Elizabeth Rolle (November 8, 1920 – November 17, 1998) was an American actress. She is best known for her role as Florida Evans, on the CBS television sitcom '' Maude,'' for two seasons (1972–1974), and its spin-off series '' G ...

– actress *

Ron Rothstein Ronald L. Rothstein (born December 27, 1942) is an American former professional basketball coach and college basketball player, who has led many different National Basketball Association, NBA teams. He served as the first head coach for the Miam ...

– basketball coach *

Mirko Savone Mirko Savone is an Italian voice-over actor born in Frosinone, Italy in 1985. Best known in Italy for giving his voice to Christian Bale, Elijah Wood, and many TV series and cartoons for Disney Channel, The Disney Channel, Nickelodeon and other Na ...

– actor and voice-over *

Jean Stapleton Jean Stapleton (born Jeanne Murray; January 19, 1923 – May 31, 2013) was an American character actor, character actress of stage, television and film. Stapleton was best known for playing Edith Bunker, the perpetually optimistic and dev ...

– actress *

Nick Valensi Nicholas Valensi (born January 16, 1981) is an American musician and songwriter, best known for his role as lead and rhythm guitarist in the American rock band The Strokes. Since 2001, the band has released six studio albums, some of which Valen ...

– musician and guitarist for

J. Buzz Von Ornsteiner Dr. J. Buzz Von Ornsteiner (born August 20, 1967) aka Dr. Buzz is a licensed forensic psychologist who provides weekly commentary for the TV show CopyCat Killers which airs on Reelz channel. Career Von Ornsteiner is a licensed psychologist and has ...

– forensic psychologist/television personality

Government, politics, and social issues

Rabab Abdulhadi Rabab Ibrahim Abdulhadi (born 1955) is a Palestinian Americans, Palestinian-born American scholar, activist, educator, editor, and an academic director. She is an Associate professor, Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies, Race and Resistance Stud ...

(born 1955), Palestinian-born American scholar, activist, educator, editor, and an academic director. *

(1942) – Congresswoman (1971–1977), women's rights advocate, political activist *

Charles Barron Charles Barron (born October 7, 1950) is an American activist and politician who currently serves in the New York City Council, representing Brooklyn's 42nd district. He previously held the same seat from 2002 to 2013, and served in the New Y ...

–

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs. The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...

member * Keiko Bonk – Activist, artist, politician, and highest-ranking elected

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

member in the United States *

Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick (born January 1, 1942) is a judge who served as associate judge on the New York Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state of New York, from 1994 through 2012, when she reached mandatory retirement age. As of June ...

(1963) – Judge, first Hispanic woman named to the

New York State Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the Unified Court System of the State of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six Associate Judges who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by t ...

Helene S. Coleman Helene S. Coleman (April 22, 1925 - January 30, 2021) was the president of the National Council of Jewish Women in the USA. She was inducted into the Florida Women's Hall of Fame in 1982. Coleman was instrumental in establishing the ''Guardian ad ...

(1925) – President,

National Council of Jewish Women The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization. Founded in 1893, NCJW is self-described as the oldest Jewish women’s grassroots organization in the United States, now comprised by over 180,000 members. As of ...

Robert R. Davila Dr. Robert Davila (born July 19, 1932) served as the ninth president of Gallaudet University,Pr ...

(1965) – President,

Gallaudet University Gallaudet University ( ) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. It was founded in 1864 as a grammar school for both deaf and blind children. It was the first sc ...

and advocate for the rights of the hearing impaired *

Martin Garbus Martin Garbus (born August 8, 1934) is an American attorney. He has argued cases throughout the country involving constitutional, criminal, copyright, and intellectual property law. He has appeared before the United States Supreme Court, as well ...

(1955) – First Amendment attorney *

Paula Harper Paula Hays Harper ( Fish; November 17, 1930 – June 3, 2012) was an American art historian, credited as "one of the first art historians to bring a feminist perspective to the study of painting and sculpture". She co-authored a biography on th ...

– art historian *

Florence Howe Florence Rosenfeld Howe (March 17, 1929 – September 12, 2020) was an American author, publisher, literary scholar, and historian who is considered to have been a leader of the contemporary feminist movement. Early life Born in Brooklyn, New ...

(1950) – Founder of women's studies and founder/publisher of the Feminist Press/CUNY * Teresa Patterson Hughes – California State Senator *

Mary Johnson Lowe Mary Johnson Lowe (June 10, 1924 – February 27, 1999) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Education and career Born in New York City, Lowe received a Bachelor of Arts ...

(1951) – Judge of the

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a United States district court, federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of New York (state), New York ...

* Roger Manno – Maryland politician *

Soia Mentschikoff Soia Mentschikoff (April 5, 1915 – June 18, 1984) was a Russian American lawyer, law professor, legal scholar and law school dean, best known for her work in the development and drafting of the Uniform Commercial Code. She served as dean of Un ...

(1934) – law professor who worked on the

Uniform Commercial Code The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), first published in 1952, is one of a number of Uniform Acts that have been established as law with the goal of harmonizing the laws of sales and other commercial transactions across the United States through UC ...

; first woman partner of a major law firm; first woman elected president,

Association of American Law Schools The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), formed in 1900, is a non-profit organization of 176 law schools in the United States. An additional 19 schools pay a fee to receive services but are not members. AALS incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non ...

Thomas J. Murphy, Jr. Thomas J. Murphy Jr. (born August 15, 1944) is an American former politician and city management consultant from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He served in state government in two capacities, from 1979 to 1982 representing the 17th district, and f ...

(1973) – Mayor,

Pittsburgh, PA Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsyl ...

, 1994–2006 *

Pauli Murray Anna Pauline "Pauli" Murray (November 20, 1910 – July 1, 1985) was an American civil rights activist who became a lawyer, gender equality advocate, Episcopal priest, and author. Drawn to the ministry, in 1977 she became one of the first women ...

(1933) – first African-American woman named an Episcopal priest; human rights activist; lawyer and co-founder of N. O. W. *

Thomas P. Noonan, Jr. Thomas Patrick Noonan Jr. (November 18, 1943 – February 5, 1969) was a United States Marine who was posthumously awarded the United States' highest military decoration — the Medal of Honor — for heroism during February 1969 in Vietn ...

–

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

;

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

, Vietnam *

Antonia Pantoja Antonia Pantoja (September 13, 1922 – May 24, 2002), was a Puerto Rican educator, social worker, feminist, civil rights leader and the founder of ''ASPIRA'', the Puerto Rican Forum, Boricua College and ''Producir''. In 1996, she was the fi ...

– Puerto Rican community leader, founder of

Boricua College Boricua College is a private college in New York City designed to serve the educational needs of Puerto Ricans and other Hispanics in the United States. It was founded by Victor G. Alicea and several others. Faculty The school employs a largely ...

Thomas S. Popkewitz Thomas S. Popkewitz (born August 16, 1940) is an Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education, USA. His studies explore historically and contemporary education as practices of m ...

– Professor of curriculum theory,

University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

Jeanette Reibman Jeanette F. Reibman (August 18, 1915 – March 11, 2006) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 18th district from 1969 to 1994. She also served in the Pennsylvani ...

(1937) – Pennsylvania State Representative and State Senator * Sandra Schnur – disability rights advocate *

Larry Seidlin Larry Seidlin (born May 24, 1950) is an American judge. He was a State Court judge for the Circuit Court of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit of the State of Florida in and for Broward County. He was the presiding judge during the infamous Anna Ni ...

–

Broward County, Florida Broward County ( , ) is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with over 1.94 m ...

Judge, presided over

Anna Nicole Smith Anna Nicole Smith (born Vickie Lynn Hogan; November 28, 1967 – February 8, 2007) was an American model, actress, and television personality. Smith started her career as a ''Playboy'' magazine centerfold in May 1992 and won the title of 1993 ...

's estate *

Donna Shalala Donna Edna Shalala ( ; born February 14, 1941) is an American politician and academic who served in the Carter and Clinton administrations, as well as in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2019 to 2021. Shalala is a recipient of the Presid ...

–

United States Secretary of Health and Human Services The United States secretary of health and human services is the head of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all health matters. The secretary is ...

under

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

; tenth president of Hunter College (1980–1988) * John Timoney –

Chief of Police Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

of Miami, Florida

Literature and journalism

Mohamad Bazzi Mohamad Bazzi ( ar, محمد بزي) is a Lebanese-American journalist. He is the former Middle East bureau chief at ''Newsday'' and a current faculty member of New York University. Bazzi was the 2007-2008 Edward R. Murrow Press Fellow at the Co ...

– journalist *

Maurice Berger Maurice Berger (May 22, 1956 – March 22, 2020) was an American cultural historian, curator, and art critic, who served as a Research Professor and Chief Curator at the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture, University of Maryland, Baltimore ...

– cultural critic * Peter Carey – writer * Colin Channer – writer, musician, co-founder of Calabash International Literary Festival Trust *

Joy Davidman Helen Joy Davidman (18 April 1915 – 13 July 1960) was an American poet and writer. Often referred to as a child prodigy, she earned a master's degree from Columbia University in English literature at age twenty in 1935. For her book of po ...

– writer, poet *

Garance Franke-Ruta Garance Franke-Ruta is the executive editor of GEN by Medium. She has worked as Washington editor of Yahoo News and editor in chief of Yahoo Politics, Voices columnist and politics editor of ''The Atlantic'' Online, national web politics editor ...

– journalist * Martin Greif – writer, publisher, former managing editor of

Time-Life Books Time Life, with sister subsidiaries StarVista Live and Lifestyle Products Group, a holding of Direct Holdings Global LLC, is an American production company and direct marketer conglomerate, that is known for selling books, music, video/DVD, ...

* Andrew Hubner – novelist *

Ada Louise Huxtable Ada Louise Huxtable (née Landman; March 14, 1921 – January 7, 2013) was an architecture critic and writer on architecture. Huxtable established architecture and urban design journalism in North America and raised the public's awareness of the ...

(1941) – writer,

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

-winning architectural critic *

Colette Inez Colette Inez (June 3, 1931 – January 16, 2018) was an American poet and a faculty member at Columbia University’s Undergraduate Writing Program. She published ten poetry collections and won the Guggenheim Fellowship, Rockefeller Fellowship, ...

– poet, academic, Guggenheim,

Rockefeller Rockefeller is a German surname, originally given to people from the village of Rockenfeld near Neuwied in the Rhineland and commonly referring to subjects associated with the Rockefeller family. It may refer to: People with the name Rockefeller f ...

, and two

NEA Fellowship The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

s *

Phil Klay Phil Klay (; born 1983) is an American writer. He won the National Book Award for fiction in 2014 for his first book-length publication, a collection of short stories, '' Redeployment''. In 2014 the National Book Foundation named him a 5 under ...

– writer Redeployment * Bel Kaufman – teacher and author, best known for the 1965 novel ''

Up the Down Staircase ''Up the Down Staircase'' is a novel written by Bel Kaufman, published in 1964, which spent 64 weeks on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list. In 1967 it was released as a film starring Sandy Dennis, Patrick Bedford, Ruth White, Jean Stapl ...

'' *

Audre Lorde Audre Lorde (; born Audrey Geraldine Lorde; February 18, 1934 – November 17, 1992) was an American writer, womanist, radical feminist, professor, and civil rights activist. She was a self-described "black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet," who ...

(1959) – African-American poet, essayist, educator and activist *

Paule Marshall Paule Marshall (April 9, 1929 – August 12, 2019) was an American writer, best known for her 1959 debut novel '' Brown Girl, Brownstones''. In 1992, at the age of 63, Marshall was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship grant. Life and career Marshall wa ...

– author,

MacArthur Fellow The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 ind ...

"genius grant," Dos Passos Prize for Literature * Jenny B. Merrill (1871) – educator, author *

Lilian Moore Lilian Moore (pen name, Sara Asheron; March 17, 1909July 20, 2004), was a writer of children's books, teacher and poet. She founded and edited for Scholastic's Arrow Book Club, a low-cost mail-order paperback service for children. She also helped ...

, author of children's books, teacher and poet *

Melissa Plaut Mel Plaut is a writer from New York City who was recognized by ABC News and the Associated Press in January 2006. Plaut ran a blog called "New York Hack" about her career as a New York City taxi driver. In 2007, her book ''Hack: How I Stopped Wo ...

– author * Sylvia Field Porter – economist/journalist, former financial editor of the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' *

Carole Radziwill Princess Carole Ann Radziwiłł (; ; born August 20, 1963) is an American journalist, author, and television personality. Throughout the course of nearly two decades working as a journalist and producer for ABC News, Radziwill's reporting ear ...

— journalist, author, and television personality *

Helen Reilly Helen Reilly (April 25, 1891 – January 11, 1962), was an American mystery writer known for a series of novels featuring Inspector Christopher McKee, head of the fictitious Manhattan Homicide Squad. She wrote mostly under her own name but also und ...

– mystery writer *

Sonia Sanchez Sonia Sanchez (born Wilsonia Benita Driver; September 9, 1934) is an American poet, writer, and professor. She was a leading figure in the Black Arts Movement and has written over a dozen books of poetry, as well as short stories, critical essay ...

– poet * Paula Schwartz – novelist * Augusta Huiell Seaman – writer *

Julie Shigekuni Julie Shigekuni (born 1962) is an American writer and professor. Her novels include ''A Bridge Between Us'', ''Invisible Gardens'', ''Unending Nora'', and ''In Plain View'', and she has won a PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award. She is Pro ...

– novelist, professor at

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

Ned Vizzini Edison Price Vizzini (April 4, 1981 – December 19, 2013) was an American writer. He was the author of four books for young adults including ''It's Kind of a Funny Story'', which NPR named #56 of the "100 Best-Ever Teen Novels" and which is th ...

– writer

Science and technology

Henriette Avram Henriette Davidson Avram (October 7, 1919 – April 22, 2006) was a computer programmer and systems analyst who developed the MARC format (Machine Readable Cataloging), the international data standard for bibliographic and holdings information ...

–

Computer programmer A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software. A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...

and

systems analyst A systems analyst, also known as business technology analyst, is an information technology (IT) professional who specializes in analyzing, designing and implementing information systems. Systems analysts assess the suitability of information syst ...

* Patricia Bath – pioneering

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgery, surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Followin ...

Patricia Charache Patricia Charache (December 26, 1929 – September 12, 2015) was a physician specializing in infectious disease and microbiology. She was a faculty member at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine for more than 50 years, retiring as a ...

– Microbiologist and infectious disease specialist *

Mildred Cohn Mildred Cohn (July 12, 1913 – October 12, 2009) was an American biochemist who furthered understanding of biochemical processes through her study of chemical reactions within animal cells. She was a pioneer in the use of nuclear magnetic r ...

– biochemist,

National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social scienc ...

* Mary P. Dolciani – mathematician; influential in developing the basic modern method used for teaching algebra in the United States *

Mildred Dresselhaus Mildred Dresselhaus''Mildred Dresselhaus'' was elected in 1974

–

;

Institute Professor An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes can ...

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

; Professor, physics and

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

Gertrude Elion Gertrude "Trudy" Belle Elion (January 23, 1918 – February 21, 1999) was an American biochemist and pharmacologist, who shared the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with George H. Hitchings and Sir James Black for their use of innovat ...

–

Nobel Laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make out ...

, medicine;

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

;

(1991); Lemelson-MIT Prize (1997); first woman,

National Inventors Hall of Fame The National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) is an American not-for-profit organization, founded in 1973, which recognizes individual engineers and inventors who hold a U.S. patent of significant technology. Besides the Hall of Fame, it also opera ...

Charlotte Friend Charlotte Friend (March 11, 1921 – January 13, 1987) was an American virologist. She is best known for her discovery of the Friend leukemia virus. She helped to establish the concept of the oncovirus, studied the role of the host immune respo ...

– virologist; member,

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

; discoverer, Friend Leukemia Virus and Friend erythroleukemia cells *

Erich Jarvis Erich Jarvis is an American professor at Rockefeller University. He leads a team of researchers who study the neurobiology of vocal learning, a critical behavioral substrate for spoken language. The animal models he studies include songbirds, par ...

– Professor of

neurobiology Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, development ...

Duke University Medical Center Duke University Hospital is a 957-acute care bed academic tertiary care facility located in Durham, North Carolina. Established in 1930, it is the flagship teaching hospital for the Duke University Health System, a network of physicians and hosp ...

* Edna Kramer – American mathematician and popularizer of mathematics * Marilyn Levy – photographic chemist at

Fort Monmouth Fort Monmouth is a former installation of the Department of the Army in Monmouth County, New Jersey. The post is surrounded by the communities of Eatontown, Tinton Falls and Oceanport, New Jersey, and is located about from the Atlantic Ocean. Th ...

from 1953 to 1979 *

– forensic psychologist/television personality *

Arlie Petters Arlie Oswald Petters, MBE (born February 8, 1964) is a Belizean-American mathematical physicist, who is the Benjamin Powell Professor of Mathematics and a Professor of Physics and Economics at Duke University. Petters will become the Provost at ...

– professor of physics, mathematics, and business administration,

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

Mina Rees Mina Spiegel Rees (August 2, 1902 – October 25, 1997) was an American mathematician. She was the first female President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1971) and head of the mathematics department of the Office of N ...

– mathematician; first female President, American Association for the Advancement of Science (1971) * Rosalyn Yalow –

, medicine; medical physicist;

(1988); Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (1977)

Notable faculty

* Vishwa Adluri, professor of religion and philosophy * Meena Alexander, poet * Marimba Ani (Dona Richards), afrocentric anthropologist, coined the term "Maafa" for African holocaust * Dora Askowith (1884–1958), Lithuanian-born American author and historian * Harry Binswanger (born 1944), philosopher * Emily Braun, Canadian-born art historian and curator * Joyce Brothers (1927–2013), psychologist, television personality, advice columnist, and writer * Jeannette Brown (born 1934), chemist, historian, author * Peter Carey, Australian novelist * Neal L. Cohen, NYC Health Commissioner * LaWanda Cox, historian * Kelle Cruz, astrophysicist *

, photographer * Mary P. Dolciani, mathematician * Emil Draitser (born 1937), author and professor of Russian * Nathan Englander, novelist * Philip Ewell, music theorist * Stuart Ewen, historian and author * Norman Finkelstein (born 1953), political scientist and author * Helen Frankenthaler, artist * Godfrey Gumbs, physicist * E. Adelaide Hahn, classicist and linguist * Winifred Hathaway, advocate for blind education * H. Wiley Hitchcock, musicologist * Alice von Hildebrand, Belgian-born American philosopher * Eva Hoffman, writer * Tina Howe, playwright * Julia Indichova, reproductive healthcare activist and author * Victoria Johnson, Associate Professor of Urban Policy *Francis Kilcoyne (died 1985), third President of

*John Kneller (1916–2009), English-American professor and fifth President of

* Julia Jones-Pugliese (1909–1993), national champion fencer and fencing coach * Bo Lawergren, physicist and musicologist * Jan Heller Levi (born 1954), poet * Lillian Rosanoff Lieber (1886-1986), Russian-American mathematician and author *

(1934–1992), poet * Marguerite Merington (1857–1951), author * Robert Motherwell, artist * Carrie Moyer, artist * Colum McCann, Irish novelist * Leonard Peikoff, Canadian-American, Ayn Rand's intellectual heir and founder of the Ayn Rand Institute * Jeffrey T. Parsons, psychologist * Jennifer Raab, 13th and current president of Hunter College *

, mathematician * Paul Ramirez Jonas, artist * Blake Schwarzenbach, singer/guitarist of Jawbreaker (band), Jawbreaker and Jets to Brazil *Gary Shteyngart (born 1972), Soviet-born American writer * Lao Genevra Simons, mathematician and math historian * Tom Sleigh, poet * Tony Smith, sculptor * Leo Steinberg, Russian-born American art historian * John Kennedy Toole, author * Lionel Trilling (1905–1975), literary critic, short story writer, essayist, and teacher * Edward P. Tryon, physicist * Lydia Fowler Wadleigh, "lady superintendent" of the Normal School *

, artist * Jacob Weinberg, pianist and composerLevin, Neil M
Biography: Jacob Weinberg 1879–1956
Milken Archive. Retrieved August 29, 2014. * Dr. Ruth Westheimer (Dr. Ruth; born 1928), German-American sex therapist, talk show host, author, professor, Holocaust survivor, and former Haganah sniper. * Blanche Colton Williams, professor of English literature and head of the English department

References

Informational notes Citations

External links

*
Official athletics website
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